afflicted

1

"Please," was the only word she could think of. It came out a whimper.

"Please what?" The voice lilted slightly as if the stranger was amused by her, toying with her. His stance was lithe, predatory. His eyes simmered in the darkness.

"Please let me out," She begged softly.

He loosed a dark chuckle.

"No."

Her shoulders sagged, eyes prickling as she tried not to spiral into a panic. Not while he was here, watching. He turned on his heel without another word and left the room, the heavy thud of his thick-soled boots growing fainter with each step until he was gone.

A panicked sob escaped her lips. Her hands barricaded her mouth, crying to hold it all inside as hot tears poured down her dirt-smudged cheeks.

She don't know how long she sat there crying before she once again slipped under the heavy guise of sleep. When she woke again, her head was pounding even worse. She couldn't even manage the energy to lift her head from the floor.

There was a shrill sound coming from a corner of the building she was blind to from her cell. A high, keening noise filled the room as someone shredded their throat in an attempt to scream. She squeezed her eyes shut, covering her mouth as spastic sobs wracked her frail body.

The person's scream was abruptly cut off by a wet, gargling noise. She froze. A feeling of icy terror snaked up her spine. She panted around her hands, drool and condensation from her breath covering her palm. She bit her hand to fight back her frightened whimpers.

Where am I, who am I, where am I, who am I, where am I, who am I...

She begged herself to remember anything at all. Multiple heavy thuds from the other side of the room.

Dragging, heavy footsteps, boots of some kind, going father away, getting fainter, gone...

Was she being kept by one man or a group? Who had just died on the opposite side of the wall from her? The tangy smell of copper violated her nose and she gagged, coughing on the dryness of her throat.

She forced her mind not to wander, instead flicking her eyes around the room in the desperate hope of finding a way out of here before she met the same fate she'd just overheard. Who was this man, and why did he want to hurt her? And why not just do it? Why chain and cage her?

Perhaps he wanted to torture her first, drag it out a bit. The idea made her stomach roil. Had she been kidnapped? Or perhaps this was something she'd deserved? She couldn't remember anything about herself. She couldn't even conjure an image of her own face. The panic began to swell again.

The heavy footfall returned, growing louder as the man she'd seen earlier approached the bars of her cell. She scrambled backward, back pressing against the wall as she tried to make herself as small as possible.

His face came into view, finally. And she nearly swallowed her own tongue.

He was- gods, he was beautiful. His golden-tanned skin was offset by the glistening onyx of his mussed hair. His lips were soft and pink, forming the perfect pout. His nose was straight and refined. A beauty mark was above the left side of his mouth. Vivid hazel eyes simmered as he looked her over.

His hand reached between the bars carefully, hand extending a glass of water.

She eyed him warily. Why was he offering her water? She raised a brow at him.

"Drink," he commanded. She didn't move. What if he had putten something in it?

She chewed her bottom lip as she carefully crawled forward. She looked up at the cup for a long moment before grabbing it with both hands. He walked backward, grabbing a chair and dragging it a few feet away from the iron bars, collapsing into it. His body was clad in fighting leathers with those same glowing blue gems at various spots, the biggest ones on either of his hands.

His hands...

They were covered in burn scars. The skin there was angry and red, as if in a perpetual state of agitation. Catching her looking, he casually crossed his arms once more.

She eyed him carefully as she lifted the glass up to her lips, gingerly taking a sip. It was orgasmic. She took a larger gulp, still trying to savor it. Who knew how long it would be until he brought more? If he ever did.

"Drink it all," he commanded, voice stern.

She looked up at him, her gut twisting. Hesitantly, she obeyed, emptying the cup. She wondered briefly if the cup was real glass. Would he really be that stupid? Maybe he was testing her.

"Good girl," he purred. "Now give me the cup."

She hugged the cup to her chest. He flicked one eyebrow up in challenge. He held out his palm for her to sit the cup in. She didn't. His eyes simmered with wicked delight. As if he was enjoying watching her struggle under his leering smirk.

"Come on, you can't seriously mean to kill me with that," he laughed.
She threw the glass against the wall, and it bounced off with a hollow thud. Plastic. Fuck. He snorted. She shot daggers at him through her eyes. She would kill him.

"If you want it that badly, I suppose you can have it," he grinned, eyes glittering.

"Why am I here?" she spits out. Rage was building up in her chest, and she had no clue where it was stemming from.

"Thought you'd never ask," he said tauntingly. "You're here because you deserve to be." He said as if it were that simple. As if she didn't probably have a brain injury at the moment.

"Why?" She asks, voice quiet.

"Don't fuck with me. You know why."

"I don't."

He looked her over, brows furrowing for a moment before being schooled into cool indifference. He sat back in his chair, long legs spread wide.
His eyes flicked to where the cup had fallen, then back to her face.

"Oh, I'm going to take my time with you, Calina. And I'm gonna fucking enjoy wiping that smug look off your face," he said, his words full of venom. Calina? Was that her name? Why could she not remember? What had he done to her?

"I don't know you," she said, voice almost inaudible.

"Glad to see you still think this is funny. Rest assured that this does not end well for you. In any world." His beautiful features looked vicious. Fear stirred in her gut as his wings flared behind him, like a bat from hell. Well, he had told her that's where she was. Perhaps it wasn't too far off.

"I woke up with no memories," she said. "At all."

"You drank all the water, I watched you," he said, almost to himself. His brows knitted together and a hand absentmindedly came to rest at his mouth, propped on the other arm that was still crossing the broad planes of his chest.

"Please tell me who you are," she bit back a sob coming from deep within her cavernous chest. She felt entirely hollow. After all, what was a person with nothing inside them? Are we not made up of our own perceptions of ourselves gathered through life experiences? So, what was she without those memories?

He stood up so fast that his chair tumbled backward, but he made no move to pick it up. He huffed heavy breaths through his nose, looking down at where she still cowered on the floor.

"How?" he barked. "How are you resisting? What did you take? Who has been in here?" Her eyes went wide looking up at him, a horrid feeling brewing in her stomach.

"Did you try to drug me?" she squeaked, tears rolling down her cheeks again. Where were these years kept? She felt so dehydrated, but her tears would not stop welling in her eyes.

"I gave you truth serum," he said, gritting his teeth. "How did you tamper with the effects?" He looked positively livid. Seething. She bit her bottom lip, hard. She tasted the copper tang of blood on her tongue.

"I- I don't... I have no clue who or what- I just woke up, my head is pounding- who am I? I can't remember who I am," she said. "Or who you are, or why you want to hurt me."

His jaw muscles flickered as he gritted his teeth.

"Fuck you," he snarled, turning and briskly leaving the room. She didn't see him again for what she'd assumed was around three days.